Það er mikill metingur um hver er langbestur.
There is a lot of rivalry about who is by far the best.
Breakdown of Það er mikill metingur um hver er langbestur.
vera
to be
það
it / there (existential) / the one (n)
hver
who / what / which (one)
um
about
mikill
great, much (adjective: snjórinn er mikill)
metingurinn
the rivalry
langbestur
by far the best
Questions & Answers about Það er mikill metingur um hver er langbestur.
How does the prefix lang- work in langbestur?
The prefix lang- is attached directly to superlative adjectives to mean "by far" or "easily" the most. While it is related to the word for "long", in this grammatical structure it acts as a strong intensifier, much like saying "by a long shot" in English.
The preposition um usually takes the accusative case. Why is hver in the nominative here?
The preposition um does take the accusative, but its object here is not the single word hver. Instead, the entire clause hver er langbestur acts as the object of um. Inside that dependent clause, hver is the subject of the verb er, so it must be in the nominative case.
Why are hver and langbestur in the masculine form here?
When hver (who) refers to a person in a general, unspecified sense, Icelandic defaults to the masculine singular form. The adjective langbestur then takes the masculine singular nominative form to agree with the pronoun it describes.
What is the exact nuance of metingur compared to other words for "competition"?
While a formal sporting event, contest, or official competition is usually a keppni, metingur describes a rivalry, a clash of egos, or a culture of boasting where people constantly compare themselves to figure out who is superior.
Learn Það er mikill metingur um hver er langbestur and more in Icelandic
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free